Highlights

Chahal made his ODI and T20 debuts vs Zimbabwe under Dhoni's captaincy.

Chahal gives a lot of credit to, for his meteoric rise to Dhoni.

Since his limited overs debut in 2016, Chahal has already played 31 ODIs and 26 T20 internationals.

NEW DELHI: It's always great to have a certain senior player in the team, who might not have the designation of captain, but brings so much experience to the table, that his inputs are sought and appreciated by everyone, including the current captain. In the Indian limited overs cricket teams, that position belongs to the veteran MS Dhoni.

Under Dhoni's tutelage, many young cricketers have honed their skills in the cricketing arena and the exceptionally talented leg-spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal is one of those.

With his street-smart guile and his skills that help him read and bamboozle world-class batsmen, Chahal has cemented his place in the Indian limited overs teams in a short period of time. Since his limited overs debut in 2016, the 28-year-old has already played 31 ODIs and 26 T20 internationals. And one man Chahal gives a lot of credit to, for his meteoric rise, is Dhoni.

"I still look to Dhoni bhai whenever I am in trouble or need any advice during a match," Chahal told Timesofindia.com in an exclusive interview.

"Dhoni bhai has amazing observation skills. He can tell from behind the stumps that a bowler has a doubt or has questions by our body language alone. Whenever I am in doubt, he comes and solves the problem," Chahal said.

"Not just me, other bowlers too take help from him. We all are lucky to have him in the team," Chahal said.

Dhoni2

Chahal went on to talk about a conversation he had with Dhoni during the Super 4 match against arch rivals Pakistan in the recently-concluded Asia Cup.

"During the match, Rohit Sharma (stand-in captain) was having a discussion with Dhoni bhai. Rohit bhai came and asked me to bowl in the Powerplay. I looked at Dhoni bhai, he rushed towards me and asked me to bowl 'stump to stump'. I did just that and trapped Imam Ul Haq lbw," Chahal, who made his ODI and T20 debuts vs Zimbabwe under Dhoni's captaincy told TimesofIndia.com.

"This is not the first time he (MS Dhoni) has guided me. There have been many occasions in the past, when I got wickets because of him," the leg-spinner said.

After MS Dhoni stepped down as India's limited overseas captain in January 2017, Virat Kohli had tweeted to say, "You (Dhoni) will always be my captain" and Chahal echoed the Indian captain's sentiment.

Thanks for always being the leader a youngster wants to have around him. You'll always be my captain @msdhoni Bhai 😊😊

"Virat Kohli is a great captain. Sometimes, when in doubt, he too approaches Dhoni (on the field) and asks for advice. And it works really well for the team," the Haryana born Chahal said.

"Sometimes Dhoni bhai scolds us from behind the stumps, when we make mistakes," Chahal jokingly said.

After Rohit Sharma won the Asia Cup as stand-in captain, a lot of people compared his calm captaincy style with Dhoni's. Talking about that, Chahal said, "All three (Dhoni, Virat and Rohit) have different styles of captaincy. You can't compare their captaincy styles" Chahal signed off.